In Lars Iyer’s comedic novel "My Weil", a ragtag cohort of doctoral candidates studies at a Manchester university’s second-rate philosophy program—rebranded Disaster Studies. The members of this grimy and vibrant group spend a lot... Read More

With a mix of scientific and insider perspectives, sociologist Andrew L. Whitehead’s "American Idolatry" is a fascinating investigation of politics and racism in American Christian evangelicalism. Using statistical data and stories... Read More

Hermann Hesse wrote iconic, pensive novels, but he was also a butterfly collector. In "Butterflies", a charming book for nature and literature lovers, he marvels over the creatures up close. Excerpts concerning butterflies, selected from... Read More

Century’s Witness is Mary Llewellyn McNeil’s behind-the-scenes biography of a respected newsman. One of Wallace Carroll’s greatest gifts as a journalist was his timing. Fresh from journalism school in Milwaukee, he was the first... Read More

Dani Baker is the dreamer and planner behind the Enchanted Edible Forest, three acres in New York that were cultivated over a decade to grow more organic, edible plants. "The Home-Scale Forest Garden" brings these permaculture gardening... Read More

Edward J. Renehan Jr.’s "Deliberate Evil" is about a true crime from long ago: the upper-class murder that shook Salem, Massachusetts in the 1830s. That spooky setting is fleshed out with lots of literary references, enriching the... Read More

Adam Roberts’s entertaining cultural survey "It’s the End of the World" takes an omnivorous approach to the apocalypse, devoting space to possible mass extinctions wrought by deities, zombies, viruses, and climate change. The book... Read More

"Under the Rainbow" is an amiable and elegant diary set during Covid-19 stay-at-home orders, when rainbows were displayed as a symbol of unity and appreciation with Britain’s National Health Services workers. James Attlee reports from... Read More